Also in this issue, David W. Parke II, MD, discusses how minimizing the complexity, risk, and value of ophthalmic services trivializes the profession as a whole.

Multimedia Extra: Feature

"Experts Tackle Cataract Complications" is based on the Spotlight on Cataract Surgery Session that took place during the 2012 Annual Meeting. That session was organized around seven video cases presented by David F. Chang, MD. This month’s feature story brings you all seven videos, plus the audience poll results and thoughtful expert discussion. View the first video here. (Video courtesy of David F. Chang, MD.)

See the entire Cataract Spotlight session when you purchase the Annual Meeting product at www.aao.org/ondemand.

He had a complete whiteout of vision in his right eye. The next morning, that eye was red and painful.

Other than needing glasses for high myopia, the 55-year-old patient had never had any eye problems before. That is why he was so alarmed when he awoke one morning with a red, painful eye. He tried to recall anything out of the ordinary that might have contributed to the condition. In the end, the only thing he could link it to was a sneeze the day before.

David G. Hunter, MD, PhD, raised an alarm on his listserv about a Boston Children’s Hospital rule that a new bottle of eyedrops be used in the OR for each patient. The result: profligate waste. JCAHO is trying to eliminate flash sterilization in the OR. Instead, the delicate eye instruments are sent to central processing. Turnaround is slow enough that six full instrument sets are required instead of three. Profligate waste, again. Preassembled case packs of drapes and towels usually contain far more than will ever be needed; the rest are discarded, or “recycled,” but still wasted. Profligately.

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